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I was given this transcript of an entry from the Rent Book of the Duke of Argyll:

The South Division of the farm of Upper Ranachan + 10\S stg for each goat kept to perform 3 days service of 1 man and 1 horse yearly. If required seed time and harvest excepted. Memorial stated 21/8/1810 for Andrew Wylie son of the deceased John Wylie late tenant of Ranachan. In this Memorial he requests that his son Andrew’s name be inserted as a partner with him in the tack from 1811 which he wishes.

Petition dated 7 October 1812 b Andrew Wyllie for an abatement of rent, he says he offered £80 Rather than be deprived of the possession he had held for 25 years as heir to his father.

1) I understand 10\S stg means 10 shillings sterling – this seems a large amount per goat for c1800. In the last paragraph he offers £80 Rather than be deprived of the possession he had held for 25 years (as heir to his father). This seems like a huge amount of money for 1812.

2) What would their home have been like in the second half of the eighteenth century? The earliest date I have for John Wylie is his marriage in 1759 and he was living at Ranachan at that time. Was a tacksman’s home similar to that of his tenants, or would he have lived in a home with a few more comforts?

3) What animals is he likely to have had apart from the goats?

4) I understand that the Duke of Argyll brought lowlanders to his estates. Do surnames give any clue as to whether the family is a highland one, or from the lowlands? (Wylie, Langlands and Galbreath are the ones I am interested in)

Any information or comments would be very much appreciated – I am trying to write up my family tree at the moment.

There are a lot of excellent books about lifestyle in Kintyre which you may wish to buy. I have copies of the books below, but they aren't to hand at the moment, so I can't refer to them.

Kintyre in the 17th Century - Andrew McKerralKintyre Country Life - Angus MartinKintyre: The Hidden Past - Angus Martin

Although written in the 19th century, Cuthbert Bede's 'Glencreggan' describes life in rural Kintyre. I think there's an e-version available on-line.

Getting back to you query, I'm not unduly worried about the 10 shillings per annum. If you consider that in 1797, agricultural labourers received 1 shilling a day (plus food on top). So you can see that 10 days ag lab pay was not a great deal.

Yes, there are names which came to Kintyre with the original Planters. Following the Wars of the Covenanters, a so-called ‘plague’ wiped out many of the inhabitants of Kintyre in 1647. Contemporary commentators observed that it made a virtual desert of the peninsula. Although the illness is assumed to be plague, some experts have doubted whether it was plague, which is transmitted by rat fleas. It’s more likely to have been a severe outbreak of typhus fever which is transmitted by the human louse and associated with dirt, overcrowding, famine and starvation – all of which were prevalent in Kintyre following the defeat of the McDonalds at Rhunahaorine Moss and Dunaverty near Southend.

To compensate for this decimation of the population, in 1650 the Duke of Argyll controversially brought in planters from the ‘Low Country’ – Ayrshire - to repopulate the town of Kinlochkilkerran and surrounding area. As a consequence of the Duke’s intervention, the town would take on the name of Campbeltown.

So yes, families did move to Kintyre to augment the Gaelic-speaking highlanders. In addition, the population also consisted of people from Ireland - particularly form the Glens of Antrim. In parts of Southend parish there were close links with Ireland.

Excellent that you could get hold of Glencreggan. One of the books I mentioned has details on the planter families - can't remember which one! Also there is an examination of families names and their origin, whether Lowland, Highland or Irish. Good luck with your ongoing research.